Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Turbiditysensors
Contents
1Introduction
1.1Definition
1.2LightScatteringdifferentfromParticleConcentration
1.3LightScatteringandParticleSize
2MeasurementsofTurbidity
2.1SecchiDisk
2.2Jacksoncandleturbidimeter
2.3NephelometersandotherOpticalSensors
3Calibrationstandards
3.1Formazin
3.2AmcoClear
3.3StablCal
4CausesandImpactsofturbidityinMarineEcosystems
5Seealso
6References
Introduction
Definition
Turbidityisdefinedasthereductionoftransparencyofaliquidcausedbythepresenceofundissolvedsuspendedmatter.[1] Theoriginoftheparticlesfoundinseawatercanbemineral(suchas
clayandsilts)ororganic(suchasparticulateorganicmatterorlivingorganismslikeplankton).Turbidityisnot,however,adirectmeasureofsuspendedparticlesinwater,butameasureofthe
scatteringeffectsuchparticleshaveonlight.
LightScatteringdifferentfromParticleConcentration
Awatersamplecoloredbydissolvedsubstancesisanhomogeneoussystemthatonlyattenuatesthe
radiationthatgoesthroughit.Awatersamplethatcontainsundissolvedparticlesattenuatestheincident
lightand,inaddition,theparticlesscatterthelightunequallyinalldirections.Thescatteringoftheradiation
towardsthefrontgeneratedbytheparticles,changestheattenuationinsuchwaythattherelativespectral
attenuationcoefficient
absorptioncoefficient
isthesumofthespectraldiffusioncoefficients
andthespectral
Toobtainthespectraldiffusioncoefficient
alone,thespectralabsorptioncoefficient
must
beknown.Todeterminethespectralabsorptioncoefficientofthedissolvedsubstances,insomecasesthe
undissolvedparticlesmaybefiltered,althoughthismycauseinterference.Thus,itnecessarytocomparethe
resultsoftheturbiditymeasurementswithastandardscale.Theintensityofthescatteredradiationdepends
onthewavelengthoftheincidentradiation,themeasuringangle,andontheshape,opticalcharacteristics
andsizedistributionofthesuspendedparticles.Inmeasurementsoftheattenuationofthetransmitted
radiation,themeasuredvaluesdependontheapertureangle
.Theangle
Figure1[1]
isformedbythedirectionoftheincidentradiationandthedirectionofthemeasuredscatteredradiation,as
showninfigure1.[1]
LightScatteringandParticleSize
Particlesinteractwithincidentlightabsorbingitandscatteringitinalldirections.Thespatialdistributionof
scatteredlightdependsontheratioofparticlesizetowavelengthofincidentlight.Particlesmuchsmallerthanthe
wavelengthofincidentlightexhibitafairlysymmetricalscatteringdistributionwithapproximatelyequalamounts
oflightscatteredbothforwardandbackward(FigureA).Asparticlesizesincreaseinrelationtowavelength,light
scatteredfromdifferentpointsofthesampleparticlecreateinterferencepatternsthatareadditiveintheforward
direction.Thisconstructiveinterferenceresultsinforwardscatteredlightofahigherintensitythanlightscattered
inotherdirections(FiguresBandC).Inaddition,smallerparticlesscattershorter(blue)wavelengthsmore
intenselywhilehavinglittleeffectonlonger(red)wavelengths.Conversely,largerparticlesscatterlong
wavelengthsmorereadilythantheyscattershortwavelengthsoflight.Particleshapeandrefractiveindexalso
affectscatterdistributionandintensity.Sphericalparticlesexhibitalargerforwardtobackscatterratiothan
coiledorrodshapedparticles.Therefractiveindexofaparticleisameasureofhowitredirectslightpassing
throughitfromanothermediumsuchasthesuspendingfluid.Theparticlesrefractiveindexmustbedifferentthan
therefractiveindexofthesamplefluidinorderforscatteringtooccur.Asthedifferencebetweentherefractive
indicesofsuspendedparticleandsuspendingfluidincreases,scatteringbecomesmoreintense.Thecolorof
suspendedsolidsandsamplefluidaresignificantinscatteredlightdetection.Acoloredsubstanceabsorbslight
energyincertainbandsofthevisiblespectrum,changingthecharacterofbothtransmittedlightandscattered
lightandpreventingacertainportionofthescatteredlightfromreachingthedetectionsystem.Lightscattering
intensifiesasparticleconcentrationincreases.Butasscatteredlightstrikesmoreandmoreparticles,multiple
scatteringoccursandabsorptionoflightincreases.Whenparticulateconcentrationexceedsacertainpoint,
detectablelevelsofbothscatteredandtransmittedlightdroprapidly,markingtheupperlimitofmeasurable
turbidity.Decreasingthepathlengthoflightthroughthesamplereducesthenumberofparticlesbetweenthelight
sourceandthelightdetectorandextendstheupperlimitofturbiditymeasurement.
Angularpatternsofscatteredintensityfromparticlesofthreesizes.(A)small
particles,(B)largeparticles,(C)largerparticles[2]
MeasurementsofTurbidity
SecchiDisk
Thefirstrecordofturbiditybeingapproachedinascientificway,isattributedtotheheadofthePapalNavyin
1865,CommanderCialdi.CommanderCialdiwasinterestedinthetransparencyoftheseaandthevisibilityofitsfloor(fornavigationalpurposes)andduringhisresearchhehadreadthata
captainhadreportedseeingaplateinanetatadepthof40m.CommanderCialdicommencedhisinvestigationontheseavisibilityandimmediatelytriedseveraldifferentdisksizesandcolors.
Later,hehiredtheservicesofProfessorPietroAngeloSecchi,anItalianscholarandpriest.TogethertheypublishedSurlaTransparencedelaMer.(OnthetransparencyoftheSea)wherethey
describedthedevelopmentofawhitedisk(latermodifiedbyGeorgeWhipple)connectedtoapoleoracabletomeasurethetransparencyofthesea.Secchimadefurtherobservationsonthe
influenceoftheboat'sshadow,thesurfacereflectionofthelight,theclearnessofthesky,andtheheightatwhichtheobserverstands[3] .Whilehismethodhasbeenusedeversinceanditisstill
usedtodayasaqualitativemeasureoftheoceans'turbidity,ithasneverbeenstandardizedsoitsaccuracyisverylimited.
Jacksoncandleturbidimeter
ThefirstattempttomeasureturbidityinastandardizedfashionwasmadebyWhippleandJacksonin1900.WhippleandJacksondevelopedastandardsuspensionfluidusing1,000partsper
million(ppm)ofdiatomaceousearthindistilledwatertouseasascaleandaturbidimeter(Jacksoncandleturbidimeter).Themethodconsistsinplacingalitcandleunderaflatbottomedtubein
whichthewaterinpoureduntiltheimageofthecandlesfadesuntoaglarewhenobservedfromabove.Visualimageextinctionoccurredwhentheintensityofthescatteredlightequaledthatof
transmittedlight.TheheightofthewaterwouldbereadagainsttheppmsilicascaleandunitsweregiveninJacksonturbidityunits(JTU).Needlesstosaythatthismethodispronetoerrorstoo,
asthediatomaceousearthvariesinitscompositionandthereadingissubjectedtotheobserver.
Inadditiontotheproblemsmentionedabove,thewavelengthofthecandlelightisnotaseffectivelybackscatteredbysmallsizeparticleswhilethedarkparticlesabsorbsomuchmorelight
thantheyscatter,thatitisimpossibletoobtainareading.
OthermethodsweredevelopedfollowingtheprincipleoftheJacksoncandleturbidimeterwithimprovedlight
sources,butthebiasinducedbytheobserverwasstillalimitation.Thedevelopmentofthephotoelectricdetector
broughtmuchbetterprecisionundercertainconditions.Thephotoelectricdetectormeasuredtheattenuationof
transmittedlightthroughafixedvolumesampleanditwassensibletoverysmallchangesinlightintensity.Still,
thephotoelectricdetectorcouldnotreadchangesinhighorextremelylowturbidity.[5]
NephelometersandotherOpticalSensors
Thesolutionforthisproblemfinallycameinthe1970'swhenthenephelometricturbidimeter,ornephelometer,
wasdeveloped.ThenamecomesfromnepheloidlayerwhichinturncomesfromtheGreekwordnephosmeaning
cloud.Thisinstrumentdeterminesturbiditybymeasuringthelightscatteredatanangleof90fromtheincident
beam.A90detectionangleisconsideredtobetheleastsensitivetovariationsinparticlesize.Nephelometers
arethestandardinstrumenttomeasureturbidityaccordingtoISO,EN,andEPA(http://www.epa.gov/).thesingle
differencebetweenthesenormsisthatISOandENnephelometersuse860nmInfraredemmitingdiodeasalight
source,whileEPAusestungstenfilamentlampoperatedatacolortemperaturebetween2200and3000degreeK.
Thelatterhaslimitationsconcerningcoloredsamplesasthesewillattenuatethelightbeamleadingtoerrorsin
theturbiditymeasurement.RatioTurbidimetersuseseveralscatterdetectorsandareabletocompensatethe
lightattenuationthatoccursinacoloredsample.Transmissometer
Calibrationstandards
TheSecchidiskissubmergedintothe
water,whenthediskisnolongervsisble
Formazin
thelengthofthecableismeasured.The
In1926,KingsburyandClarkdiscoveredFormazin,asuspensionthatiscreatedbythepolymerizationof
hexamethylenetetramineandhydrazinesulfateinwater.Thisnewsolutionimprovedgreatlytheconsistencyin
standardsformulation.Measuringunitswererenamedtoformazinturbidityunits(FTU).ThedownsideofFormazin
isthatoncesynthesized,thesolutionisstableforonlyfourweeks,andwhilereproducibleandaccurateresults
arerelativelyeasytoachieveinhighconcentrations,atlowconcentrationsthesameresultsareverydifficultto
obtain.Inaddition,Formazinproducesatraceamountofformaldehyde,whichisacarcinogen,soitmustbe
diskisthenhauledslowlyuntilit'svisible
againandthecablelengthismeasured.
Secchidepthisdeterminedbycalculating
theaverageofthemeasurementsofthe
cable.
handledappropriately [6] .
Thearrowindicatesthepointat
whichscatteredlightisas
intenseastransmittedlight,
i.e.,theimageoftheflame
disappears
Innephelometricmeasurement,turbidityisdeterminedby
thelightscatteredatanangleof90fromtheincident
beam.[4]
fontsize=80%Alargetransmittedlightdetectormeasuresthelightthatpasses
throughthesample.Aneutraldensityfilterattenuatesthelightincidentonthis
TypicalseriesofFormazinturbiditystandardsshowninNTU/FTU.[7]
detectorandthecombinationiscantedat45degreestotheincidentlight,sothat
reflectionsfromthesurfaceofthefilteranddetectordonotenterthesamplecell
AmcoClear
area.Aforwardscatterdetectormeasuresthelightscatteredat30degreesfrom
thetransmitteddirection.Adetectorat90degreesnominaltotheforwarddirection
measureslightscatteredfromthesamplenormaltotheincidentbeam.This
AmcoClearisaturbiditystandarddevelopedbyGFSChemicalsandconsistsofStyreneDivinylBenzeneCopolymerBeadsinwater.It
detectorismountedoutoftheplaneformedbythelightbeamandtheother
detectors.Theangleandbafflingforthisoutofplanemountingblockslight
scattereddirectlyfromthesidesofthesamplecellwhilecollectinglightscattered
StablCal
CausesandImpactsofturbidityinMarineEcosystems
Highturbidityhasanumberofdetrimentaleffectsonaquaticecosystems:decreaseinlightpenetration(limiting
plantgrowth),fishmovementsandtheabilityofpredatoryfishandbirdstoseetheirprey.Highturbiditymeans
highconcentrationofsuspendedsolids,whichcanharmfishandotheraquaticfauna.Thesesuspendedsolidsin
theprocessofsettlingdowntotheoceanbottomhaveachokingeffectonbottomdwellingorganismsandaquatic
habitats.[8]
fromthelightbeam.Thesignalsfromeachofthesedetectorsarethen
mathematicallycombinedtocalculatetheturbidityofasample.The2100AN
containsafourth,backscatterdetectorthatmeasuresthelightscatteredat138
degreesnominalfromthetransmitteddirection.Thisdetectorseeslightscattered
byveryturbidsampleswhentheotherdetectorsnolongerproducealinearsignal.
Seealso
definitionofturbidity.
Instrumentsandsensorstomeasureenvironmentalparameters
References
1. 1.01.11.2ISO7027,WaterQuality,InternationalStandard,1999
2. Brumberger,etal,LightScattering,ScienceandTechnology,November,1968,page38.
3. Tyler,JohnE.,1968,THESECCHIDISC,LIMNOLOGYANDOCEANOGRAPHY,vol.8,no.1
4. TURBIDITYSCIENCE,TechnicalInformationSeriesBookletNo.11,MichaelJ.Sadar
5. EPAGuidanceManual,TurbidityProvisions,April,1999
6. http://www.labchem.net/msds/75606.pdf
7. http://www.optek.com/Turbidity_Measurement_Units.asp
8. SabaMylvaganam,TorgeirJakobsen,1998,TURBIDITYSENSORFORUNDERWATERAPPLICATIONSSensorDesignandSystemPerformancewithCalibrationResults,OCEANS'98
ConferenceProceedings,Vol.1,158161
ThemainauthorofthisarticleisSouzaDias,Francisco(http://www.coastalwiki.org/imis/imis.php?
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